Plantation
Minutes for 1/30/08
Worship & Prayer
Worship included contemporary songs, “Forever,” “Amazing Love/You are my King,” and the hymn, “I Need Thee Every Hour.” The hymn verses were interspersed with times of prayer (silent prayer for strength in battling temptation; prayer with a partner about a joy or pain from the day.)
After sharing the peace, participants were asked to sit within their small groups.
Patti Lien shared a testimony of how a neighbor she’s been praying for came home from the hospital and expressed a new interest in prayer and Bible study.
We shared a short video on prayer as a takeoff on the cell phone commercials, “Can you hear me now?”
Prayer teaching/application
Prayer partners:
· We began the evening with 12 prayer partners signed up. All present were invited to commit to daily prayer for our church in this time of renewal. Additionally, note cards were passed out, and we were invited to think of one or two people outside our church who might be receptive to becoming a prayer partner with us. The goal is to surpass 100 prayer partners by 2/13.
· Why prayer partners? We reviewed the teaching from the last session from 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, which includes the realization that those who pray notice more of God’s activity, and have additional reasons for giving thanks. We want to see as many as possible praying, so that among other reasons, when God does great things in our midst, prayer partners will have the additional joy of seeing God’s activity as an answer to their prayer.
·
Barb Isaacson volunteered to coordinate the
prayer partner list by sending a prayer email each week after
Teaching:
· Prayer = power. A chicken with its head cut off still runs around, for a little while. We need to stay connected, plugged in, if we really want to make any progress. We’re tired of mere activity without direction.
· Did the early church live more by revelation or reason? We agreed that the early church lived by revelation, among other reasons because the things they saw and experienced (resurrection, miracles, etc.) can’t possibly be achieved by planning or reasoning. We’re not opposed to reason and planning, and in fact both can be mechanisms of revelation. But we want our default setting to be dependency on God, not on ourselves.
· 1 Cor. 3:1-9
o Unity – maturity, overcome jealousy & quarreling. Unity is a sign of maturity; quibbling over finer points of theology, when it moves beyond a “faith seeking understanding” mentality, is actually a sign of immaturity.
o We have parts to play; God gives the growth. If we pray for God to plant the seed, for instance, He’s likely to answer, “No – that’s your job.”
· Matthew 9:35-10:1
o Miracles contributed to growth.
o Compassion is always the motivation behind evangelism and prayer ministry.
o The first reaction to need, according to Jesus, is prayer, not human effort. This isn’t a passive praying, but an active one. Why pray first? God will have different harvest fields to send us into; only He knows where we’re best equipped. The power for growth comes totally from God; more prayer leads to more power. Prayer increases our compassion, and turns evangelism into an act of love, not duty.
o
We often become part of the answer to our
prayers. Matt. 10:1 can’t be separated
from
Small group discussion:
· Where are the fields ripe for the harvest?
· Who seems like sheep without a shepherd?
Vision-casting:
The next time you get bored in a classroom – look around and pray silently. See if there’s something God asks you to do; a conversation to start, a person to say hi to, a note of encouragement to write. When you walk through the hallway, pray with your eyes open, i.e. bullet prayers of blessing to everyone you pass. The next time you get bored at work, pray… at grocery store, etc. Dave shared how it’s been amazing to see how much more tuned in he and Valerie are to their neighborhood’s people and needs simply as a result of taking a few minutes and walking and praying through the neighborhood.
Additional Application
Specific prayer opportunities with
·
Prayer during
·
· Large group of prayer partners – goal of >100 by next meeting 2/13
· Prayer triplets – form groups of three that will be consistent over the next months
o Who are at least 5 people in your life who either aren’t Christian or you’re not sure whether they are or not?
o If you don’t know 5, list 5 places you go where you could potentially meet some. It’s not okay to be isolated from those who don’t know Jesus – what will you change?
o Share with two other people your list.
o Record others’ info, pray for them, and next time together, share any progress.
Ways to be involved in
- We agreed that audio recordings were not being requested at this time.
- Thanks to Katie for running Powerpoint for Wednesday nights. Others are welcome to help in this area.
- Someone could help arrange our church plant central area, especially as our resources grow.
- Join
the
- Recruit others
- Pray!
Reminder: Feb. 6 is Ash Wednesday – no